Fall to Pieces
by Eliza Evenstar
Summary: After a devastating break up, Lily Evans and James Potter thought they would never see each other again. But Fate has other plans. Are they destined to be, or is there no chance of happiness for anyone? JL, RL, SL, JOC


_Disclaimer:_ This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Summary: After a devastating break up, Lily Evans and James Potter thought they would never see each other again. But Fate had other plans. A new girlfriend, a secret lover, a brooding admirer, and a Dark Lord.. Are they destined to be, or is there no chance of happiness for anyone?

Pairings: James/Lily Remus/Lily Severus/Lily James/OC Sirius/Altered Canon Characters

Rating: PG-13

A/N: Response to a challenge issued by peterpansgirly, timeturner and Golden Phoenix at forums. Post-Hogwarts with some fun Flashbacks.

Dedicated to _peterpansgirly_, _timeturner_ and _Golden Phoenix_. Thanks for the great challenge, guys!

Here we go:

_Fall to Pieces_

_By Eliza Evenstar_

* * *

_Lily _

"No, that can't be right, the Filaeria Charm is filiatie, so that can't possibly be the incantation."

Lily Evans was in her office, conversing with her coworker, Emmeline Vance. She sighed, tucking back a strand of long red hair, and bit her lip in concentration.

Emmeline watched Lily, waiting for her to say something else. Everyone knew that Lily was the expert in charms, she had the answer to every question.

And then the answer came, Lily's eyes lighting up with triumph.

"Of course, it makes sense now. The correct incantation is Fidlilia, not Filiatie. They were trying to trick us. How clever, to use the roots and the atlernaters in two similar charms!"

As Lily rattled on about the inventors of the charms, who had lived thousands of years ago, Emmeline again was impressed by her colleague's mind. Lily had been working in the Department for less than a year, but she was already co-head.

The other co-head, Gilliam Goshawk, had recently retired to aid his mother. He retired very young for a wizard, and many would have been outraged with him for daring to do so. That is, if they knew anything about the Department.

Lily, Emmeline and Gilliam all worked for the ministry as Unspeakable, specializing in investigating and creating charms. Their work in the Department of Mysteries was very hush-hush. No one was permitted to speak of it, 'less they wish to have the Aurors swarming them.

Very few knew anything about the department. You did not ask them for a job, they found you if considered worthy.

"I hope that helps, it all terribly interesting, I would have loved to work on this one." Lily exclaimed

"Thanks for you help, Lily, I'll be sure to keep you informed." Emmeline departed with a final salute to her boss.

Lily gave a little laugh before sighing. She glanced around at the paperwork she was required to do as the only head of the Charms section. You would think that a top secret classified division wouldn't have to do paperwork, she slightly mused. Before, her and Gilliam had worked out a deal which had him doing most of the paperwork while Lily could invest her time in what she truly loved, Charms.

She dearly missed the freedom of her old life, before she had become an Unspeakable and rose rapidly through the ranks. She had worked in the Accidental Magic Reversal Department for a short while, before being approached by Gilbert Whimple, to become an unspeakable. Gilbert had retired many years ago, but he was still in charge of training and recruiting new employees. He was very knowledgeable about so many things, and Lily considered him a bit of a mentor.

Turning her thoughts away from the past, she resigned herself to her fate, a large mound of paperwork.

* * *

_James _

"So then, I thought we could visit your parents, surprise them, have a cuppa. Then we can go see Sirius and Remus, to let them know, and then go unpack." James half-listened to his girlfriend of eight months talk excitedly.

Elle, a blue-eyed blonde, was an American witch who had graduated at the top of her class at the Salem Witches' Institute. James had met her shortly after he had moved to the US. They were both new recruits at the Auror training centre in New York, and had helped each other through the difficult training.

James had moved to America on invitation to be part of the exclusive Wizardring Watchers. They were a highly trained group, a step-up from your every day Auror. James had never planed on leaving his beloved England, but things he had changed a lot within the past two years.

But now, James was going back home for good. He and Elle had been offered jobs at the Ministry, to train and be part of the Aurors. James had reluctantly accepted, with lots of pressure and encouragement from his family, friends, and Elle to return home. Elle was ecstatic, she desperately wanted to help, James had told her many stories, and had always been horrified at the happenings in Jolly Old England. The US had none of these major problems, just a couple nut jobs, but Elle realized that if Voldemort was not stopped, then he would spread to the rest of the world.

Elle was a half-blood, her father's side a prominent American magical family, and her mother a muggle. She had been raised a witch, but loved the muggle world as well. Thus, as they made their way to England, she had insisted on traveling the muggle way, by plane. James had only been on a plane once before, when he and Elle had vacationed in the Caribbean.

James was normally attentive to Elle, but right now, he was gripping his armrest, white knuckled. The plane was commencing the landing, and James had never quite trusted planes. He preferred brooms, or apparating, flooing, or ever portkeying.

Elle rolled her eyes at James, watching amusedly as he turned paler with every second. The great James Potter, scared of a plane. The plane suddenly jolted as the wheels touched the ground, making James wince and tense up. As the plane finally slowed down and came to a stop, he let out the breath he had been holding in.

"We're here!" Elle exclaimed excitedly, rushing off the plane from their seats in First Class. James shook his head slightly, before following her off the plane.

He was back.

* * *

_Lily _

Lily hummed softly as she left her office for lunch, hurrying to catch the elevator. She watched as the owls and people came and went, until she reached the top floor. She greeted a few people here and there, but generally kept to herself. When she reached the top floor, she went to flooing area and wanted for a free fire. This was her routine, she was a creature of habit. She grabbed the silver powder and threw it into the fire, admiring the green that the fire turned. As she stepped in the fire and said her destination, she never could have suspected what would soon happen.

He was back, the person who had impacted her life so profoundly, who had left her without so much as a good-bye, the person who had torn her up so much that she threw herself into her work, isolating herself from everyone. She couldn't have know that as she was leaving the Ministry, he was entering it, and if she did, many suspected that she would have killed him right then and there.

A/N:Heh… So that's the beginning… A little abrupt and brief, with a few too many and too little details. Don't worry, it will get better. Thanks to the HP Lexicon, which helped me through this chapter.

In case you're wondering the challenge was:

Lily likes Snape  
James wants Remus to set him up with Lily, but  
Remus likes Lily With Sirius watching amusedly from the sidelines

I'm going to post this at both Fan Fiction dot net andHarry Potter Fan Fiction dotcomin case you see it at both places.

Please review, tell me what you think.. More to come soon.. With lots of twists and turns..

Brownie points to any who can figure where I got some of the names from.. Ones obvious, but the others I'm a little proud of.

Thank you very much for reading, and for your time!

_Lotta luv, _

_-Eliza Evenstar_

P.S.: I don't have a beta reader, so sorry for any mistakes.. I'd love one, if anyone has the time though..


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